BEST OF THE BLOG

People Think Manufacturing is Important

News reports of surveys almost always leave me wanting to know more--things such as sample size, actual questions, methodology. But this survey commissioned by Rockwell Automation appears to have a good methodology. Given today's (continuing) news about the state of the economy and decisions being made in Washington, this is timely information that our country's leaders should be considering.


Survey shows most Americans believe highly automated factories important to economic growth; majority support a stimulus package to modernize U.S. factories An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that safer, cleaner and more energy efficient production are the most important manufacturing issues in today's economy according to a recent survey by Opinion Research Corp. Most Americans also believe that highly automated, modern factories are important to improve and grow the U.S. economy and that a federal government stimulus package should support an increase in the number of modern, automated factories.

"Whether it's toys, peanut butter or pet food, product quality is top of mind for Americans," said Rockwell Automation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Keith Nosbusch. "Consumers recognize that government incentives to invest in more highly automated, modern factories can both stimulate U.S. economic growth and lead to safer, cleaner and more energy efficient production at the same time..." Read more

ARC Forum 2009 Press Conferences

It's the first full day of the annual ARC Advisory Group Forum in a chilly Orlando. Yesterday we sat in a six-hour "press conference marathon." But it wasn't as bad as it might sound. There was much news and new products. I'm sitting in Andy Chatha's opening keynote to an obviously smaller crowd than usual. We knew that many people would be watching expenses right now, and there must have been some last minute cancellations. That's too bad because there is always a lot of good information and good people to meet at the Forum... Read more

OMAC in Orlando

A good part of the conference I attended in Orlando last week has always been the OMAC working groups and sessions. Much progress toward improved manufacturing has been gained over the past 12 years from the discussions and work of these thought leaders. Keith Campbell, himself a former leader of the group, attended the packaging working group meetings while I went to the machine tool working group. His blog post reports on some of the issues discussed. Essentially the packaging group has accomplished much with such work as PackML, PackTags and the like. It now needs to focus on the next big issue to maintain the momentum... Read more

Automation Minutes podcast posted

This a podcast conversation with Keith Updike, Managing Director of BBK, where we discuss Lean Thinking and what a Lean Lifestyle looks like.... Read more

WWGD?

Much of my early experience was product development, and I still follow the discipline. Jeff Jarvis has written a book, "What Would Google Do?", and an excerpt ran recently in Business Week. How the Google Model Could Help Detroit. How about opening up the design process and actually listening to customers? That's one suggestion Jarvis made. Check it out... Read more

Podcasts on AW.com

Stop Reading and Listen...Podcasts on AW.com

Power on your iPod and listen to Automaton Minutes Podcasts from Gary Mintchell, Editor in Chief, or gain insight with Wes Iversen's podcast interviews of Automation VIPs. AW has a library of podcasts and a RSS feed so you can have them deliverd right to your desktop. Visit our RSS Feed page and subscibe to the Podcast feed!